Six Characters in Search of an Author

live for the sake of living, without knowing how to live; but he lives so as to give a meaning and a value of his own to life. For me this is everything. I cannot give up this, just to represent a mere fact as she Indicating The Step-Daughter. wants. It’s all very well for her, since her “vendetta” lies in the “fact.” I’m not going to do it. It destroys my raison d’être. The Manager Your raison d’être! Oh, we’re going ahead fine! First she starts off, and then you jump in. At this rate, we’ll never finish. The Father Now, don’t be offended! Have it your own way⁠—provided, however, that within the limits of the parts you assign us each one’s sacrifice isn’t too great. The Manager You’ve got to understand that you can’t go on arguing at your own pleasure. Drama is action, sir, action and not confounded philosophy. The Father All right. I’ll do just as much arguing and philosophizing as everybody does when he is considering his own torments. The Manager If the drama permits! But for Heaven’s sake, man, let’s get along and come to the scene. The Step-Daughter It seems to me we’ve got too much action with our coming into his house. Indicating The Father. You said, before, you couldn’t change the scene every five minutes. The Manager Of course not. What we’ve got to do is to combine and group up all the facts in one simultaneous, close-knit, action. We can’t have it as you want, with your little brother wandering like a ghost from room to room, hiding behind doors and meditating a project which⁠—what did you say it did to him? The Step-Daughter Consumes him, sir, wastes him away! The Manager Well, it may be, And then at the same time, you want the little girl there to be playing in the garden⁠ ⁠… one in the house, and the other in the garden: isn’t that it? The Step-Daughter Yes, in the sun, in the sun! That is my only pleasure: to see her happy and careless in the garden after the misery and squalor of the horrible room where we all four slept together. And I had to sleep with her⁠—I, do you understand?⁠—with my vile contaminated body next to hers; with her folding me fast in her loving little arms. In the garden, whenever she spied me, she would run to take me by the hand. She didn’t care for the big flowers, only the little ones; and she loved to show me them and pet me. The Manager Well then, we’ll have it in the garden. Everything shall happen in the garden; and we’ll group the other scenes there. Calls a Stage Hand. Here, a backcloth with trees and something to do as a fountain basin. Turning round to look at the back of the stage. Ah, you’ve fixed it up. Good! To The Step-Daughter. This is just to give an idea, of course. The Boy, instead of hiding behind the doors, will wander about here in the garden, hiding behind the trees. But it’s going to be rather difficult to find a child to do that scene with you where she shows you the flowers. Turning to the Youth. Come forward a little, will you please? Let’s try it now! Come along! come along! Then seeing him come shyly forward, full of fear and looking lost. It’s a nice business, this lad here. What’s the matter with him? We’ll have to give him a word or two to say. Goes close to him, puts a hand on his shoulders, and leads him behind one of the trees. Come on! come on! Let me see you a little! Hide here⁠ ⁠… yes, like that. Try and show your head just a little as if you were looking for someone.⁠ ⁠… Goes back to observe the effect, when The Boy at once goes through the action. Excellent! fine! Turning to The Step-Daughter. Suppose the little girl there were to surprise him as he looks round, and run over to him, so we could give him a word or two to say? The Step-Daughter It’s useless to hope he will speak, as long as that fellow there is here.⁠ ⁠… Indicates The Son. You must send him away first. The Son Jumping up. Delighted! delighted! I don’t ask for anything better. Begins to move away. The Manager At once stopping him. No! No! Where are you going? Wait a bit! The Mother gets up alarmed and terrified at the thought that he is really about to go away. Instinctively she lifts her arms to prevent him, without, however, leaving her seat. The Son To The Manager who stops him. I’ve got nothing to do with this affair. Let me go please! Let me go! The Manager What do you mean by saying you’ve got nothing to do with this? The Step-Daughter Calmly, with irony. Don’t bother to stop him: he won’t go away. The Father He has to act the terrible scene in the garden with his mother. The Son Suddenly resolute and with dignity. I shall act nothing at all. I’ve said so from the very beginning. To The Manager. Let me go! The Step-Daughter Going over to The Manager. Allow me? Puts down The Manager’s arm which is restraining The Son. Well, go away then, if you want to! The Son looks at her with contempt and hatred. She laughs and says. You see, he can’t, he can’t go away! He is obliged to stay here, indissolubly bound to the chain. If I, who fly off when that happens which has to happen, because I can’t bear him⁠—if I am still here and support that face and expression of his, you can well imagine that he is unable to move. He has to remain here, has to stop with that nice father of his,